Knutsford Air Cadets quiz panel of community leaders in live debate

Knutsford Air Cadets had a unique opportunity to quiz a panel of community leaders and professionals including a High Court judge.

A former headteacher, GP, vicar, and ex-mayor gave up their time to face questions on a wide range of topics.

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Climate change, hospital funding, the police, prisons and libraries all came under scrutiny.

From left, Mark Cawson KC, specialist civil circuit judge in the High Court in Manchester and London, Andrew Malloy, former Knutsford mayor and consultant engineer and Rev Ian Blay, rector of St Wilfrid's Mobberley (Image: Supplied)

Steven Benson, civilian instructor and chaplain of 2056 Knutsford Air Cadets Squadron, chaired the debate.

He said: “This was a rare opportunity for the cadets to have direct access to some of society’s influential minds and the discussion that followed was well received.

“Local community leaders were quizzed about their attitudes to a variety of topics.”

From left, Dr Sally Whittaker, Alison Hooper, former headteacher of Egerton Primary School, and Steven Benson, civilian instructor, who chaired the debate (Image: Supplied)

One cadet asked if a ban on mobile phones in schools would improve learning?

Alison Hooper, former headteacher of Egerton Primary School, led the response, arguing that mobiles are now a part of a student’s life.

Schools and students need to be educated to use them wisely, she said, rather than a proposed ban imposed by the government.

Air cadets asked questions on a variety of topics (Image: Supplied)

A contentious issue of whether we can trust the police was raised.

One cadet said that many prosecutions in recent years and TV drama script writers use the failure of this ‘safe’ institution to keep us on the edge of our seats.

Panellists largely agreed with this question.

But judge Mark Cawson, a specialist civil circuit judge working in the High Court in Manchester and London, pointed out that any organisation would have people in it who didn’t fully support its aims and have a proper understanding of the idea of ‘service’.

The panel agreed that robust systems must be in place to deal with all offenders.

One cadet asked if it right to spend five billion dollars on sending a probe to one of Jupiter’s moons when the world faces so much poverty?

Rev Ian Blay, rector of St Wilfrid’s, Mobberley, pointed out that this sum of money was not actually a ‘huge amount’ in terms of the overall world spend.

Mrs Hooper was more sympathetic to the plight of people around the world who had little or nothing but accepted that a balance was needed.

The cadets expressed general sympathy and believe that the two expenditures need not be mutually exclusive.

Teenagers questioned the need for libraries, claiming that people can seek all they need nowadays from the internet.

All panellists argued in favour of libraries, not just for reading, but for wider social interaction.

Around half of the cadets answered ‘yes’ when asked if they were currently reading a novel, and all of them were paper copies.

Approximately one-third said they had visited their local library within the last six months.

Social media fuelled a lengthy debate.

Cadets said they felt that adults didn’t understand the full use of these communication platforms.

Panellists argued for discretionary use.

One cadet asked if prisons work, after many reports suggest there is as much crime inside jails as out in the community.

Judge Cawson said that prison had three main purposes: punishment, protection the public from further offending and reforming behaviour.

Lack of resources and funding over a long period, he said, has meant that the system is not currently working as it should.

Nevertheless, he stressed, the principle of prison was necessary in an ordered society.

Cadets felt that hospital car parking charges for patients and visitors were not fair.

Dr Sally Whittaker remembers having to pay for car parking when she worked as a hospital doctor.

But, she said, car parks have to be operated and maintained, and that money spent on them by a trust would mean less funding for patient care.